Monday, March 8, 2010

www.MAURICEGARLAND.com Interviews The Co-Creators of Freaknik: The Musical

I recently interviewed the guys behind The Freaknik cartoon that came on last night on Adult Swim. I did the interview for Ozone Magazine's Sex Issue.

Now before I even saw the cartoon, I was already feeling a certain way about it. When I saw the trailer a few months ago, I was like....uh, what the hell?!? Then when I interview Nick and Carl (who co-produces The Boondocks), I was even more perplexed.

I mean, we can all sit here and act like Freaknik was this great positive event where everything was honky dory. Did it bring light to HBCU's, yes. Did it create economic stimulation for Black business, or businesses period in Atlanta, hell yeah. Was it absolutely fun...nigga what?!?

But, at the end of the day, due largely to the media and to ignorant folks period, Freaknik was painted as a wild ass event where folks was just going crazy. Which it was too.

I was fortunate enough to be coming of age in this era of Atlanta, so I saw everything. The good and the bad. But when you hear about a company like Cartoon Network/Adult Swim making a cartoon about it, the first thing that comes to mind is "oh no, please don't make us look bad."

The gentlemen who created the cartoon, of course explained their intentions for Freaknik: The Musical like true professionals, and even made some valid points. I'm sitting here still trying to figure out if I was offended or entertained by the cartoon. Especially since I know the origins of the cartoon.

If you remember, David Banner was supposed to have a cartoon on Adult Swim called The Crook'd Sip. I interviewed him about it in a feature on rappers having cartoon I did for XXL a while back. At the time the cartoon was supposed to be about race and politics. But, somewhere along the way, that vision was derailed, Banner separated himself from the project...and Freaknik was born.

That said, I'm inviting you to read the interview over at OZONEMAG.com where the co-creators of the cartoon talk in a little more detail about it. If you missed it, you can see the entire thing over at RAPRADAR.com.